Philip-Lynott.com

THIN LIZZY

BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL – Wednesday, 24^th October 1973  -  Melody Maker

In these days of rampant nostalgia, why not a return to these halcyon days of the Blues Boom when men like

John Mayall and his Blues-breakers haunted the club circuits?

Well Ireland’s own Thin Lizzy are about the nearest thing I’ve seen to that yet.

They have all the necessary qualifications in the shape of three very talented musicians - Phil Lynott, Eric Bell and Brian Downey. And, though they threw in the odd pinch of rock’n’roll, they are essentially a true-blues band through and through.

On stage at Birmingham Town Hall recently the long-limbed matchstick frame of Lynott was the obvious centre of attraction, crouching, strutting and stalking his bass quitar around the place, and posing in the spotlights like a Paris fashion model.

Sure he's flash - but he can plug a solid bass line with the best of ‘em and his frills and fills are never to ostentatious to reach the point of confusion. Bell is his perfect foil – a true virtuoso guitarist in the Clapton / Hendrix mould, he delights In winging off on high-flying solos with plenty of bottleneck and wah-wah pedal.

But no blues band is worth a light without it’s big-shot drummer and that’s where Brian Downey comes in. He has a masterful knack of flicking slow rolls round his kit, gradually building up the pace until he ends in a deafening crescendo of drums and cymbals.

Together these three have combined into a formidable blues-making machine and though the Town Hall’s acoustics left a lot to he desired, numbers like "Gonna Creep On You", "Slow Blues" and particularly "The Rocker" were worth the entrance fee on their own.

The Opening band of the evening were five cheerful Brummies by the name of Sundance.

As yet they're still pretty much strangers to one another, let alone their audiences. But potentially,  it’s there.

DAVID LEWIS